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Benvenuti in queste pagine dedicate a scienza, storia ed arte. Amelia Carolina Sparavigna, Torino

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Tianluokeng Tulou cluster

Tianluokeng tulou cluster is one of the better known groups of Fujian Tulou. It is located in Fujianprovince, Zhangzhou City, Nanjing County, Shuyang Township, Tian Luo Keng Village (literally "Snail Pit" Village) in southern China. The cluster consists of a square earth building at the center of a quincunx, surrounded by four round earth buildings (or more exactly, 3 round earth buildings and one oval shape earth building).
More at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tianluokeng_Tulou_cluster


Friday, January 9, 2015

Castlerigg stone circle

The stone circle at Castleriggis situated near Keswick in Cumbria. One of around 1,300 stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany, it was constructed as a part of a megalithic tradition that lasted from 3,300 to 900 BCE, during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages. (Wikipedia). It is in a location northern of the Hardknott Roman Fort.To have a detailed discussion of the alignment of the stones at Castlerigg, please visit this site
http://www.ancient-wisdom.co.uk/englandcastlerigg.htm

In the following images, using SunCalc, we cans ee how the sun is moving above this stone circle.


Summer solstice


Winter solstice

Here the map showing position of the stone circle and of the roman fort.


SunCalc at the Hardknott Roman Fort

As told by its owner (Vladimir Agafonkin), SunCalc is an app that shows sun movement and sunlight phases during the given day at the given location, where we can see sun positions at sunrise, specified time and sunset. A thin orange curve is the current sun trajectory, and the yellow area around is the variation of sun trajectories during the year. The closer a point is to the center, the higher is the sun above the horizon.


Here an example: SunCalc at the hardkontt Roman Fort


Summer solstice


Winter solstice

More at:
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2015/01/07/let-in-light-ancient-roman-fort-designed-for-celestial-show/

Suncalc and ancient Sun

In a recent paper, entitled "Was Lepenski Vir an ancient Sun or Pleiades observatory?", the authors Vladan Pankovic, Milan Mrdjen and Miodrag Krmar, have discussed the hypotesis of the mesolithic village Lepenski Vir (9500 -- 5500 BC) as an ancient (one of the oldest) Sun observatory. The authors had been so kind to follow a method I suggested of using "freely available software" for the local Sun radiation direction simulation. I used sollumis.com , they used the suncalc.net software.
Here an example of suncalc software.



 

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Atlantis Orichalcum


Ripescato nel mare di Gela il tesoro di Atlantide
 
La Soprintendenza del Mare ha riportato alla luce 39 lingotti di Oricalco: risalgono a 2600 anni fa. Per Platone era il misterioso metallo di Atlantide.

Un tesoro è stato ripescato nel litorale di contrada “Bulala” nel mare di Gela, in una zona che in passato ha restituito i resti di ben tre navi arcaiche. All’interno di un relitto databile alla prima metà del VI secolo a. C., 39 lingotti di un materiale nobile, l’Oricalco, simile al moderno ottone, noto nell’antichità come metallo prezioso, tanto da essere considerato al terzo posto per valore commerciale, dopo oro e argento.

https://web.archive.org/web/20161020063759/http://www.globalist.it/Detail_News_Display?ID=67282&typeb=0&Ripescato-nel-mare-di-Gela-il-tesoro-di-Atlantide



Oricalco, museo di Gela
Immagine Cortesia di Emanuele Riela - Opera propria



Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Artù a Mediobogdum (Hardknott Roman Fort)

"Il forte è il luogo in cui un Artù bambino trascorre gli anni dell'infanzia, vegliato e istruito da un giovane Merlino"
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediobogdum

Friday, December 19, 2014

Solstices at the Hardknott Roman Fort

A roman fort in Britannia, a specific orientation to solstices




More at SSRN



Solstices at the Hardknott Roman Fort

Amelia Carolina Sparavigna

Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino



Abstract

From the most ancient times, the Roman military camps were planned according to a certain ideal pattern that was also applied to the coloniae, the outposts established in the territories conquered by Rome. The planning of castra and colonies was based on a chessboard of parallel streets, the main of them being the Decumanus. Probably, some Decumani were oriented to confer a symbolic meaning to the place too. Here we discuss the distinctive layout of a castrum in the Roman Britannia, the Hardknott Fort, and its orientation to the solstices.

Keywords: Archeoastronomy, Solar Orientation, Solstices, Urban Planning, Satellite Images, Google Earth.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Carbon Dioxide Concentration and Emissions in Atmosphere: Trends and Recurrence Plots

The increase of carbon dioxide concentration in atmosphere, due to anthropogenic emissions, is almost generally considered as responsible of global climate changes. We show some data of CO2 concentration and its emission in atmosphere, using the recurrence plots to enhance the visualization of their trends.  See more at: http://www.ijsciences.com/pub/article/582#sthash.L4dBnzsh.dpuf

Data of CO2 concentration in atmosphere, from [1]. The range is from January 1958 to October 2014. In the image we see the recurrence plot. The global annual mean concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is currently rising at a rate of approximately 2 ppm/year and accelerating [1]. This acceleration is shown by the recurrence plot, where colours are narrowing towards the diagonal line.
[1] Tans, P. & Keeling R. (2014). Trends in atmospheric carbon dioxide, Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). At www.esrl.noaa.gov/ gmd/ ccgg/ trends/


About 1970, the oil production and import of US had a sharp peak (data from Ref.12). Note how the corresponding recurrence plot evidences this peak.
[12] Vv.Aa. (2014). U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), at www.eia.gov/petroleum/

 See more at: http://www.ijsciences.com/pub/article/582#sthash.L4dBnzsh.dpuf

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Geoglyphs of Titicaca - 2 - A snake


The image, obtained from Google Maps, shows the network of earthworks separated by canals - near the Titicaca Lake. This is an ancient agricultural technique used by Andean people starting from the first millennium BC. 


More on Titicaca

arXiv:1009.4602 [pdf] Geoglyphs of Titicaca as an ancient example of graphic design,
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
arXiv:1009.2231 [pdf] Symbolic landforms created by ancient earthworks near Lake Titicaca, Amelia Carolina Sparavigna

A.C. Sparavigna (2012) 
Image Processing for the Enhancement of Satellite Imagery. In: Image Processing: Methods, Applications and Challenges / Vítor Hugo Carvalho. Nova Science Publishers, Inc. (USA), pp. 149-161. ISBN 9781620818442 

A.C. Sparavigna, R. Marazzato (2011)
Using Geographic Information Systems to Increment the Knowledge of Cultural Landscapes. In: Smart Tech & Smart Innovation, La strada per costruire il futuro, Torino, 15-17 Novembre 2011. 
[img] [img]
A.C. Sparavigna (2010)
The geoglyphs of Titicaca. In: ARCHAEOGATE n. 13-10-. - ISSN 1973-2953 
[img] [img]

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Geoglyphs of Titicaca - 1



Earthworks near Titicaca Lake create "geoglyphs"
These earthworks are known as "raised fields" and "waru-warus".

The image, obtained from Google Maps, shows the network of earthworks separated by canals - near the Titicaca Lake (Huata, Puno, Peru). This is an ancient agricultural technique used by Andean people starting from the first millennium BC. Note that the structure of the network is created after a careful planning. Each raised field is approximately 10 meters large and more than one hundred long.


More on Titicaca

arXiv:1009.4602 [pdf] Geoglyphs of Titicaca as an ancient example of graphic design,
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
arXiv:1009.2231 [pdf] Symbolic landforms created by ancient earthworks near Lake Titicaca, Amelia Carolina Sparavigna

A.C. Sparavigna (2012) 
Image Processing for the Enhancement of Satellite Imagery. In: Image Processing: Methods, Applications and Challenges / Vítor Hugo Carvalho. Nova Science Publishers, Inc. (USA), pp. 149-161. ISBN 9781620818442 

A.C. Sparavigna, R. Marazzato (2011)
Using Geographic Information Systems to Increment the Knowledge of Cultural Landscapes. In: Smart Tech & Smart Innovation, La strada per costruire il futuro, Torino, 15-17 Novembre 2011. 
[img] [img]
A.C. Sparavigna (2010)
The geoglyphs of Titicaca. In: ARCHAEOGATE n. 13-10-. - ISSN 1973-2953 
[img] [img]


Saturday, April 19, 2014

Robert Grosseteste, De Luce, On Light

Robert Grosseteste's Thought on Light and Form of the World
A.C. Sparavigna
THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENCES
2014, Volume: 3, Numero: 4, Pagine: pp. 54-62
ISSN: 2305-3925
Abstract: Robert Grosseteste was one of the most prominent thinkers of the Thirteenth Century. Philosopher and scientist, he proposed a metaphysics based on the propagation of light. In this framework, he gave a cosmology too. Here we will discuss the treatise where Grosseteste proposed it, that entitled 'De luce, seu de incohatione formarum', 'On Light and the Beginning of Forms'
Parole chiave: medieval science, cosmogony, history of physics, history of science, robert grosseteste, big bang, cosmology
http://www.ijsciences.com/pub/article/486

You can find some papers of mine about Robert Grosseteste at this link:
http://www.ijsciences.com/pub/author/342

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Robert Grosseteste and his Big Bang

"From Rome to the Antipodes: The Medieval Form of the World," International Journal of Literature and Arts. Vol. 1, No. 2, 2013, pp. 16-25. doi:10.11648/j.ijla.20130102.11

9. Grosseteste and the Sphere of Light
Robert Grosseteste (1175-1253) was an English philosopher who became the Bishop of Lincoln. As a scientist he had a quite important role in the medieval school of Oxford [32]. In his works, in particular in the commentaries of Aristotle’s philosophy, Grosseteste devised a scientific method. From particular observations, we can find a universal law, and then, from these laws we can predict some peculiar cases. Grosseteste called this “resolution and composition” [33]. As a consequence, Grosseteste tells that physics needs the ‘experimentum’, that is, a proof from experience. These ideas were a prelude for the Galilean science in the 17th century [34]. The method of “resolution and composition” was applied to geometry and optics. Moreover, optics is described by geometry, because optics depends on geometry. As a conclusion, Grosseteste argued that mathematics was the highest science, basis for all others. Here we see that he understood the necessity to describe the physical phenomena in a mathematic formalism. Grosseteste believed that at the beginning of times, it wasthe light to move the universe. In his “De Luce”, Grosseteste explains the origin of the world. God created matter and light together in a point. Due to its nature the light propagated isotropically in all directions. It immediately became a sphere and, accordingly, dragged by the light, the matter started to expand. The creation is then explained by means of a sphere of light [35].
Grosseteste's work in optics was continued by Roger Bacon. There is also an interesting quotation often reported in the history of telescope. In his treatise entitled “De Iride”, Grosseteste writes that a part of optics, “when well understood, shows us how we may make things a very long distance off appear as if placed very close, and large near things appear very small, and how we may make small things placed at a distance appear any size we want, so that it may be possible for us to read the smallest letters at incredible distances, or to count sand, or seed, or any sort of minute objects.” It is probable that Grosseteste made some experiments using lenses and mirrors [36,37].
[32] N. Lewis, Robert Grosseteste, in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2010, E.N. Zalta ed.
[33] H.G. Gauch, Jr., Scientific Method in Practice, Cambridge University Press, 2003, p.222.
[34] W. A. Wallace, Prelude to Galileo: Essays on Medieval and Sixteenth-Century Sources of Galileo's Thought, Springer, 1981.
[35] F. Adorno, T. Gregory and V. Verra, Storia della Filosofia, Bari: Laterza, 1973.
[36] A.C. Sparavigna, "Translation and discussion of the De Iride, a treatise on optics by Robert Grosseteste," arXiv, 2012, History and Philosophy of Physics, arxiv:1211.5961.
[37] A.C. Sparavigna, "Reflection and refraction in Robert Grosseteste's De Lineis, Angulis et Figuris," arXiv, 2013, History and Philosophy of Physics, arxiv:1302.1885.

A translation of Grosseteste's treatise on Big Bang at
A.C. Sparavigna (2014) , Robert Grosseteste's Thought on Light and Form of the World. In: THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENCES, vol. 3 n. 4, pp. 54-62. - ISSN 2305-3925
 at http://www.ijsciences.com/pub/article/486

I have translated and discussed some Grosseteste's treatises, you can find th links to download them freely at
http://physics-sparavigna.blogspot.it/2014/04/robert-grosseteste_8.html

Grossatesta ed il Big Bang

Roberto Grossatesta è il filosofo medievale che si è posto il problema dell'origine del mondo, un modo ancora tolemaico con al suo centro la Terra. Come dice la Genesi "e la luce fu". La luce nella sua espansione sferica porta con se la materia e crea il mondo.

Dalla pagina sul "Ilemorfismo universale"
http://www3.unisi.it/ricerca/prog/fil-med-online/temi/htm/ilemorfismo.htm
La cosmologia: Roberto Grossatesta. All’interno di una visione cosmologica, anche Roberto Grossatesta, capofila della tradizione francescana a Oxford, pone i rapporti tra forma e materia nei termini di una intrinseca unione. Accogliendo pienamente alcuni aspetti della speculazione scientifica araba, egli parla della luce come “prima forma della corporeità”. Oggetto della creazione divina, la luce sintetizza la forma e la materia nella loro esistenza primordiale. Assolutamente semplice e priva di dimensionalità, essa produce la materia estesa moltiplicandosi infinitamente. Grossatesta affida dunque alla luce l’esistenza di una materialità sottile, di per sé e sin dall’origine dotata di forma. La naturale e necessaria autopropagazione della luce gli consente, inoltre, di spiegarne il dinamismo intrinseco, da cui nasce l’intero cosmo: che raccoglie la luce originaria come lumen nel mondo astrale e come virtus in quello elementare, senza perdere il suo carattere unitario dato dall’unica forma corporea da cui è provenuto.


Dal CORSO DI STORIA DELLA FILOSOFIA PER I LICEI E PER GLI ADULTI CHE DESIDERANO CONOSCERLA: DALLA FILOSOFIA ANTICA A QUELLA CONTEMPORANEA, s cura di Francesco Lorenzoni, 2012, V.1, FILOSOFIA ANTICA E MEDIEVALE
"Ad Oxford Roberto Grossatesta, francescano, nato nel 1175, compie studi di specifica natura scientifica ed empirica sulle proprietà degli specchi e sulle lenti, benché all'interno di una "cosmologia della luce" (la prima realtà creata è la luce e le nove sfere celesti, mentre i quattro elementi terrestri si formano attraverso processi di diffusione, aggregazione e disgregazione della luce). Ma soprattutto egli esprime un principio che sarà a fondamento del pensiero di Galileo e della fisica moderna, vale a dire il principio dell'utilità dello studio delle linee, degli angoli e delle figure geometriche, poiché senza di esso non si può conoscere niente della filosofia naturale."